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Cramlington churchgoers’ prayers answered as Banks Group grant helps to pay for new boiler

April 5, 2016 | Brenkley News

Users of a Northumberland church will be saving both time and money on heating their church for years to come after a four-figure grant from a regional employer helped to pay for the installation of a new boiler.

The existing boiler at St Paul’s RC Church in Cramlington had been in place for over 40 years, and it took more than two hours from it being switched on before it began to start warming up the 46 year-old building.

But now, thanks to a £5,000 grant from The Banks Group, via its Banks Community Fund, a new boiler has been installed which does the same job in just 17 minutes.

The boiler was fitted by North East firm CMS Ltd, and the Church management committee is expecting to see a big fall in its energy bills as a result of its installation, which will free up more of its funds for other community uses.

The parish is headed by Parish Priest Fr Lee Barrett, who is supported by a 12-strong Parish Council and many other volunteers. St Paul’s RC Church is used by around 220 people and is home to a range of different community groups.

Parish treasurer John Reid says: “The old boiler had served its time with us, but its inefficiency was becoming more and more obvious – taking so long to even start to warm the building not only made it less welcoming that it should have been, but was also adding more and more to our energy bills.

“The new system has made an immediate difference, and we’re very grateful for the help we’ve had from The Banks Group in putting it in place.

“Our congregation and other users have given us lots of positive feedback on how much warmer and more comfortable the building now is to be in, and with the time it takes to warm up the building being cut so significantly, we’re expecting our future energy bills to be much lower than they’ve been up until now.”

Mark Dowdall, environment and community director at The Banks Group, adds: “The Banks Community Fund is designed to support projects that make a positive impact in the places in which we’re working or looking to work.

“This is a great example of how grants made from it can do just that, and we hope all the users of St Paul’s are now able to enjoy their time in their warmer church that bit more.”

The Banks Community Fund provides grants for community groups and voluntary organisations in the vicinity of both operational and proposed Banks Group projects. Anyone interested in applying for funding should contact James Eaglesham at the Banks Community Fund on 0191 378 6342.